Lard-finisher.



0. NAEGBLEN.

LARD PINISHER. APPLICATION FILED APR. 27, 1912.

Patented Aug. 19, 1913;

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COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH C0-,WASHINGTON, D. c.

UNTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES NAEGELEN, 0F CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE CINCINNATI BUTCI-L BBS SUPPLY COMPANY, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

LABD-FINISHER.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug. 19,1913.

Application filed April 27, 1912. Serial No. 693,581.

To all whom it may concern Be'it known that I, CHARLES NAEGELEN, a citizen of the United States, and residing at Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Lard-Finisher; and I do declare the following to be a clear, full, and exact description of the invention, attention being called to the drawing, which accompanies this application and forms a part thereof.

Lard as to its consistency, after it has left the kettles and tanks in which it had been rendered is not in uniform condition, but rather streaky and stratified, that is composed of thin and oily matter and of thick and more or less solid and grainy portions. It is not readily marketable in this condition and additional treatment becomes necessary to convert the entire mass into one of homogeneous consistency to impart to it that even and smooth appearance which it is expected to have when placed on sale.

My invention concerns a device by the use of which the thinner and thicker portions of the lard are thoroughly intermixed and equalized and whereby the lard, after having passed through the various stages of its manufacture, is finished in a manner so that when ready for packing it is of uniform consistency. Y

The invention consists of the specific construction as hereinafter I described and claimed and as illustrated in the accompany ing drawing, in which Figure 1, shows my device in longitudinal section. Fig. 2, is a side-elevation of the same with an internal member detached and partly moved out. Fig. 3, shows this internal member of the device entirely removed and partly in section. Fig. 4:, shows an end view of the device with parts broken away.

The treatment of the lard as here contemplated, for the purpose of imparting to it an equal consistency and smooth appearance consists of disintegrating the more solid and lumpy parts thereof, whereby its thinner and oily portions are taken up by these disintegrated parts and evenly distributed therethrough.- It practically constitutes the finishing stage of the manufacture'of the lard and by preference it is done immediately before the lard is canned and packed for the market.

The condition of the lard as to density depends on temperature and at that time is usually one which may be designated as one substantially emulsive. In this condition it is forced successively through a series of disintegrating diaphragins, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, each multiperforated. The openings in these diaphragms are of graduated sizes, that is to say they are largest in the diaphragms through which the lard passes first, and become smaller in each succeeding diaphragm, being smallest in the diaphragm through which the lard passes last. These diaphragms in form of metallic plates, are contained in a chamber formed by a housing 11. They are preferably of circular outline, or disk-shaped, the housing being shaped accordingly. They are firmly supported in this chamber so as to extend transversely,

across the same with a space between each plate and a spaceat each end of the group. The lard enters the chamber by passing into the space in front of plate 6, which is the diaphragm through which the lard passes first and accordingly has the largest perforations. An inlet opening is provided for the purpose as shown at 12, the lard being conducted to it by a pipe 13. The lard is forcibly moved, usuallyby means of a pump not shown. It is thereby caused to move successively through the various diaphragms whereby its lumpy portions are broken up and gradually reduced until their disintegration is complete after the lard has passed through the last diaphragm. Its thinner portions and oily matter pass along and. are forced through the same openings during this passage whereby all parts of the lard are thoroughly intermixed and evenly distributed within each other, so that when the lard finally leaves the chamber it has been changed into a homogeneous mass of even and smooth consistency. This discharge takes place through an outlet 14, to which a pipe 15 is connected, to conduct the lard to where it is desired.

Removal of matter incapable of passing through the diaphragms and accumulating in the chamber or clogging up the openings in these diaphragms must be removed from time to time. It is desirable that this be done without causing an extended inte1'rup tion of the use of the device and without detachmentof its pipe-connections, since the device is intended to form a connected part of the pipe-conduit of the plant. For such purpose I provide a detachably connected head 16, the removal of which gives access to the diapln'agms and which head may be detached without disturbing the pipeconnections. This is made possible by having one of these openings in housing 11, through which the lard passes to and from the chamber, located in the side of said housing so as to leave one end of the housing available for placing this head. The other of these openings is in the opposite end of the chamher. The construction is further such that removal of this head causes also the diaphragn'ls to come out with it, so that no special effort is necessary to obtain them after the head is once removed. For such purpose I arrange the diaphragms in a manner that they form a connected set or group in which they are held to each other and to the head all properly spaced and all forming one structure as shown Fig. 3. The man nor of removal of this structure is indicated in Fig. 2, in which it appears as being partly withdrawn from the housing. The connec tion of the diaphragm-plates to this head is a detachable one, and preferably by means of a screwcomiection. In smaller sizes a single screw as shown at 17 is suflicient. It is seated in head 16, so as to project inwardly therefrom. A boss 18 is provided on the inside of the head to receive this screw. It passes through all the plates, each having a perforation for the purpose, and engages with its head the plate farthest away from head 16. The plates are held spaced from each other by suitable spacing means, placed so as to be between them and either at their centers or at their edges. I have shown spacing means at both places, they being in form of rings those spacing the plates at their edges being shown at 19, and the others, which space them in the center, being shown at 21 and seated upon screw 17. This entire set of connected diaphragm plates, properly spaced from each other in the manner shown, is also held sufficiently spaced from the inside of head 16, so as to clear outlet 14:. The set is for such purpose seated against suitable supports formed by radially arranged ribs 22, so located as to avoid obstruction of'the passage of the lard while moving toward the outlet.

A butt 23 is provided permitting use of a suitable tool to manipulate the screw-connected head for removal or attachment.

The housing is preferably given a slight flare toward the head to facilitate with drawal therefrom of the plates connected to the head. The withdrawal of these plates from the closely packed lard would favor formation of a vacuum, but this is overcome by opening of a vent which is normally closed by a plug 24. The parts of the with drawn structure retain their relative positions so that the same in its intact entirety may be readily re-inserted.

The outer spacers 19 are prevented from slipping out of their position between the plates while the structure is outside of the casing, by being seated upon the edges of these plates, said edges occupying annular recesses 25 provided in said spacers.

Having described my invention, I claim as new:

1. In a lard finisher, the combination of a casing having a detachably connected imperforate part in its wall and provided with an inlet and with an outlet opening both normally open, a series of multi-perforated diaphragm-plates fitted to this casing and positioned between the two openings there in, spacing rings to hold these plates spaced from each other at their edges, said rings being recessed to receive these edges and a screw which passes through these plates to hold them with these rings to the detachably connected part of the casing, so that, when this screw follows the detachable part of the casing upon this latter being removed, the perforated plates and spacing rings between their edges pass out of the casing together and without changing their relative positions and may be re-inserted likewise as a whole, the spacing rings being held in properly alined positions for such purpose by the edges of the plates, which occupy the recesses in said rings.

2. In a lard finisher, the combination of an inclosure formed by a cylindrical side and by a permanent head at one end thereof, and which inclosure has two openings, one in said head and one in its side near the open end of the inclosure and both normally open, a removable, screw-connected head which is imperforate and closes the inclosure opposite the permanent head and is provided 011 its inner side with a central boss and with radially extending ribs which extend inwardly and beyond the opening in the cylindrical side of the inclosure as above mentioned, a set of multiperforated disintegrating plates with graduated openings provided in the inclosure and each plate of a size substantially fitting the same transversely, means to hold these plates spaced from each other and means to connect these plates with these interposed spacing means to each other and to the removable head and seated against the ribs thereof, so that when lard enters the opening in the end of the inclosure opposite one end of the set of conne ted plates, it is caused to pass successively through all of these plates of the en- In testimony whereof, I hereunto aflix my tire setbefore it leaves the inclosure, through signature in the presence of two witnesses. the opening between the other end of the set and the removable head and whereby these CHARLES NAEGELEN' connected plates with their spacing means Witnesses:

form a unified and rigid structure with the G. SPENGEL,

head to which they are connected. T. LEBEAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). 0. 

